Old computer needs new parts!

Hi guys

I hope this is the right place to ask this! My girl's computer is getting old and could use some new parts. She has a budget of 400$ all for all.

Here is her actual computer via Speccy.

I'll let the gurus, or atleast, the guys that know this kind of stuff, help me find good compatible parts to refresh her current set up.

Thanks,
Maesen

That's a 4 year old dual core processor that needs a Socket 1156 motherboard.

You could probably dig around for a more powerful CPU that would be compatible with that motherboard, but I'd be inclined to replace both motherboard and processor for newer stuff.

You may be able to re-use the DDR 3 RAM.

The hard drives and optical drives should be reusable.


What's the budget? Unless the budget is quite low, I'd try to get an SSD in there too, in addition to the standard HDD.

Just noticed you said $400 budget.

In that case, I'd think of something like:

120 GB Crucial M500 SSD: 80; the Samsung 840 EVO is fine too for a few more dollars.

Motherboard: Asus, Asrock, or Gigabyte; maybe 110.

Remaining budget of 210 for an i-5 Haswell processor; sometimes they are on sale.

I'm guessing the current RAM is OK.

First of all I wanna thank you all for your propositions.

Now I would like to know if the SSD would be optional or would it really be a nice upgrade to add to her rig? And by changing motherboard, I guess she would have to format her system, am I right? (She didnt partition her disk back in the day)

Thank you all so far

AddRAM said:

Yes you`d have to re install windows, it takes 15 minutes, get all your data backed up.

And a big Yes on the ssd, it will make a vast improvement

And if you don`t own Windows 7 already, then you`d have to buy it.

What Operating System is on her pc now ?

And does it have a COA with a readable key on it.

She runs Windows 7 Ultimate 64bits. I do not know if she has these COA stickers.

About the SSD, do they work the same as HDDs? Never had any.

If you have an OEM Win 7 installation and are changing motherboards, you may have difficulty in activating on the new motherboard. Microsoft sometimes is more lenient than others, but if your Ultimate is OEM, I'd plan on having to replace it--either with a new purchase OR with a free downloadable ISO that will activate if you have the Product Key found on the sticker. If the PC was purchased with an Microsoft OS, it should have the sticker.

SSDs and HDDs differ very little in practical usage and installation. Most of those differences are taken care of during the Windows installation. You should probably confirm that alignment is OK and that defrag is turned off after you install. Maybe run a benchmark on it.